To Be More Than Useless
by BFoster9
Summary: A selfish teen from a ridiculously run down hunter academy, where the exams are defending the school and pass/fail evaluations are more akin to living and dying, manages to get one of the coveted positions at Beacon Academy. Why would such a person even become a hunter, let alone fight to get into Beacon? To be more than useless.
1. Out of the Frying Pan

_Author's Note: First fan fiction in a long time, first one in third person, and hopefully the first one that's not absolute shit. In any case, thank you very much for even considering reading this, and if at all possible, please give me guidance. Third person is very difficult for me, as is trying to write this character in general. I'm not sure how I'm going to update, hopefully I can work out a bi-weekly or (if I'm on a roll) weekly update schedule. Any help you can give me will be appreciated. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy this._

_Tantalizing smells of roasting fish and delicious vegetables fill the small room as an aged mother and her adolescent son take a seat around a worn, splintering table. Strewn haphazardly across said table is a large amount of papers, which the pair look down at with concern. "Your scores are good in the individual tests, but why are the team scores so bad? Your father will be so disappointed, especially after you promised him to do better last semester. Are you not listening to Maud again?" _

"_I hate her." The son doesn't look up, his head lowered as he stares at the sheets in front of him._

"_Sejanus Aquila! We do NOT-"_

"_SAGE, Mom."_

"_I will use your full name; I'm the one who gave it to you. We do NOT hate in this household, the Mauve family is a very respected family. They single-handedly saved this town, and both of our lives."_

"_..."_

"_The least you can do is show their daughter some respect as both your leader and out of gratitude to her parents."_

"_She got the position because of her parents."_

"_Sejanus, go to your room. Don't come out until dinner's ready."_

* * *

The white foam of an ocean wave's aftermath provided a stark contrast to the dark rock of the shoreline. Clouds blanketed the sky, leaving it a dull gray with an occasional hole to let the sun through. A figure sat on the damp stone a short distance away, watching the spectacle.

_It could at least be nice while I'm leaving. _

"I was wondering where you had run off to. Are you trying to miss the airship out of here?" A female voice came from behind him, startling the boy.

"Maud?" Maud, clothed entirely in varying shades of pink and purple, stood behind him.

"We might not get along, but I figured I'd try to be nice seeing as we've been working together for four years now. I might as well finish my job as team lead. Airship's leaving in thirty; they're getting everything and everyone on board." _Worst four years of my life._

"Thanks, but go away. I don't need my last few minutes of home tarnished by _you._" He spat, turning back to the sea for a few more minutes of solitude.

"I'm not even going to argue with that. Goodbye Sage." She began to walk away before turning back. "Oh, by the way? Don't bother trying to find me at Beacon. It's a miracle you got in anyway."

"... Like I'd want to find you." Sejanus, or 'Sage' as he preferred to be called, wasn't the most social of people. Attending the Lighthouse Battle School (little more than a barracks and a mess hall in a small bastion of humanity, where many of the students came from), Sage was a tall but lean adolescent. A cocky swagger in his step betrayed his attitude despite his brown leather boots forcing a more rigid gait. The cocky swagger didn't match his stony face, much like how his green cloth and brown leather color scheme didn't match the dark rock surrounding him. The cool wind blew off of the ocean, but had little effect on the teen. The assorted leather garb he wore kept him insulated from the cold: gauntlets, knee pads, a skirt made of leather strips and metal studs attached to his cloth chest piece, and shoulder pads.

"As vain as it sounds, it's not me. It never was. It's you and it always has been."

_Thanks, I needed my day ruined._ Sage thought, and then snorted as he made a move to get his clothing and gear together._ Like THAT would ruin my day._ He chuckled under his breath as he did so, focusing in on that last bit. "Because I _must _be the problem when I gave so much to that team and you throw it away."

* * *

"_You never answered my question earlier."_

"_I don't have an answer." The family had gathered around the table for a meal._

"_Don't lie to your mother. You're being stubborn and going off on your own like you always do." Sage's father spoke up, from the head of the table._

"_I do better on my own."_

"_No, you just want everything to yourself. The thought of being in a team is disgusting to you and you know it." His brother chimed in._

"_And?"_

"_And, that's not who I want my son to be. Neither of us. And I'm sure Han here doesn't want to have a brother who's a selfish ass-"_

"_Language." The mother interrupts._

"_I work at a restaurant that serves mostly fishermen before they go out; don't expect me to be clean all the time. Sage, this is unacceptable! Your scores in individual testing exceed expectations, but your team evaluations all have incredibly low scores. It's almost like you're TRYING to fail! Beacon might have accepted you, but they won't keep you if you pull things like this. I don't know what you think they're teaching you at Lighthouse, but Beacon will assume you've already learned it. If you haven't, you're setting yourself up for failure."_

* * *

"Hi, I'm Ace." The words caught Sage's attention as a boy in black and white took the seat to the left of him. "You know, like, the ace of spades. What's your name?" An unfriendly glare sent 'Ace' away to find another seat, far away from from Sage. He glanced around the airship, enjoying the space that the now empty seat gave him. _At least the seats are comfortable. Though, I'm not sure how long the trip is anyway. Could always sleep, given my situation._ He snorted. _My family and Maud can think I'm selfish all they want. I might be selfish, sure, but I'm going to live my life in the best way I can._ _Besides, most everyone's standing anyway. There are more than enough seats here for everyone, it IS a small town. That and most of us didn't even make it into Beacon. I think I'll just sleep for the ride- at least then I won't be expected to get all buddy-buddy with anyone._

"I'm going to miss Reed so much." Someone moaned from the front of the ship. _Or maybe I won't get to sleep. _"He was so nice! He was always so helpful and friendly and now I might never see him again!" _Reed was afraid of his own shadow and better at basket weaving than anything we ever learned at Lighthouse. How do you miss a guy like that?_

"Hey, it's okay. You can visit him and your family when we get leave from school!" _We haven't even left yet and someone is already homesick. Pathetic. _Sage glanced up to see if it was anyone he knew, but laid back down when he didn't recognize the homesick teen.

"Mind if I take this seat?" _What is with these people and talking to me? I don't know most of them. Should I even bother opening my eyes or responding? _"I know you're awake, don't try to hide it." _Ugh._

"I do mind, because there are plenty of other seats."

"... I guess. Hope that extra space keeps you warm." _I am pretty warm, thank you Mr. Cynic. _The speaker crackled for a moment before the pilot spoke.

"We ask that everyone takes a seat, as we are about to depart for Beacon Academy." A few of the rowdier individuals in the ship whooped and cheered, much to the olive-clad Sage's annoyance. The transport ship's engines whirred as many adolescents scurried to their seats, a few glaring at Sage. The Bullhead lifted off, and flew towards Beacon and away from the initiates' pasts.

The sounds of amazement woke Sage from his rest, but it wasn't until the ship decelerated and turned sharply that Sage opened his eyes; this was largely due to the fact he was launched from his seats.

"DUST DAMN IT WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE IN ONE OF THE HUGE ASS AIRSHIPS DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU CAN RULE THE FUCKING SKY!" The intercom crackled after the shouting; everything was dead silent with the hunter-hopefuls. It crackled again before a much calmer female voice was heard.

"Sir… The intercom was on when you said that."

"Oh." There was a long pause that was only filled by the whirring of the engines.

"You should probably say something to the students."

"Ms. Washington, they went to a battle school and will soon be attending another one, as long as they survive initiation. I'm sure they've heard their fair share of swearing and more." The students began to murmur and look around at each other nervously. Sage got back in his seat and listened to what he could hear from the crowd of children.

"Is he implying we're going to die?" _Just that you could._

"I like a challenge." _Overachiever._

"... _I'm so screwed_…" _Pathetic._

"Look on the bright side, at least we'll die together!" _Not this kid again. _A familiar figure clad in black and white had popped up in the middle, visible only because he was standing on a seat.

"Who are you?" Someone from the crowd asked, obviously not acquainted with the energetic boy.

"Ace, like, the Ace of Spades. Nice to meet you." _That kid will be the first to die. Guarantee it. _

"Uh… okay then." The teen gave a confused look at Ace, who had a quickly failing smile on his face as he realized that the other wasn't going to make conversation with him.

"The mic is still open, isn't it Ms. Washington?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Oh boy." The loudspeaker croaked one last time and went silent. The students laughed and let their concern leave them if only for the time being. They were cut off once more by the entire Bullhead shaking and a large dent appearing in Sage's side of the airship. The students unlucky enough to be sitting where the indentation had been created were launched across the cabin, some had the good fortune to land on other students (and break their fall), others happened to have the misfortune of ramming into hard metal wall on the opposite side of the Bullhead. Shouts rose up from the students, but if one listened closely, he or she would also hear muffled shouting from the cockpit- including but not limited to extremely foul language and pleading a deity to curse the enormous airship that had rammed the smaller craft. Initiates that had not been crushed by their flying peers or catapulted into the air rushed to the window to see the airship responsible for the damage. The selfish teen was among those who experienced flight due to the other airship, but he had dusted himself off fairly quickly after hitting the wall and found a window.

The airship was absolutely massive. With four gargantuan moving wings that reminded him of a swimming sea turtle, the white and blue leviathan managed to have a calming effect on Sage. Despite the small windows, some of which being shattered from the collision, the view from the Bullhead was an amazing one. Beautiful blue water shone up and reflected off the wings of the airship, but the airship wasn't what drew the eye.

_Beacon. Academy of legend. Trains boys and girls into heroes._

Majestically overlooking the massive lake, the Beacon sparkled in the sunlight from atop a sheer cliff face. Water cascaded down around the school; a few small rivers and creeks made rainbows with their spray. At the bottom of the cliff, directly below Beacon, a harbor that many ships were delivering their students to. A long squiggle of switchbacks connected the port to the academy itself. Dust obscured the switchbacks, due to the trucks driving up the road carved from stone.

At that moment, a small square tile of metal was pushed up out of the floor and a hologram of a woman appeared in the center of the cabin. It wasn't until the hologram spoke that the students were pulled from the windows and drew their attention to the source of the noise.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy!" _Says the academy with a thousand total trainees. Then again, there are a lot of battle schools around the world and for every school, possibly hundreds of trainees. _"Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." After the short speech, the hologram disappeared and the machine was covered by the panel once again. The pilot came back on the microphone to address the students.

"Well, I was going to be the first to welcome you to Beacon, but she beat me to it. I suppose I'm second then; congratulations, you made it. Regrettably, all of the docks at the actual academy are currently occupied, so we'll have to land at the harbor below. When we land, hop on the nearest truck. It'll take you up to the school. Once you get up there, please head straight ahead to the assembly hall. You can't possibly miss it. With that said, good luck to all of you and enjoy your time here!"

_It's just a beautiful lie. This is where children go to die. _

* * *

One dusty truck ride later, Sage had arrived.

"How did someone blow a hole in the ground already? It's not even the first day!" he said as he snorted and scrunched his nose in confusion. "I wouldn't even be mad, that's almost impressive." Looking up, he saw a veritable horde of students working their way towards the doors, though off to his right there was a girl and a boy chatting and wandering aimlessly. _Let's just go in. Not like I'm meeting anyone here. _He snorted again, shaking his head at the thought. _Who'd want to meet me? I'm an asshole, in their eyes at least, and proud of it! If they don't agree with me they get all pissy- they're not worth my time._ The sounds of boots on concrete dissolved into the sounds of the crowd, as he entered the hall behind the lanky blonde boy and red clad girl. They moved further into the hall and left Sage behind. He was much more comfortable in the back. The roar of the crowd grew louder as students found themselves almost having to yell over the others. Meanwhile, a man clad in black and green formal wear made his way to center stage. Two taps on the mic; he had everyone's attention.

"I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge - to hone your craft and acquire new skills," _Yes._ "And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." _You could say that._ "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." A few murmurs shot through the mob of students but died down quickly. Sage looked down at himself. _Sounds about right. Not sure how much direction it'll take to fix that one though. _"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin effectively dropped the microphone and walked away- though, it's kind of hard to drop the microphone when it's on a stand. Either way, the effect was the same. Everyone stood in a stunned silence trying to comprehend what had just transpired. Goodwitch didn't give them any time to think about it.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."


	2. Into the Fire

**A/N: Hello again! This chapter felt like it was much easier to write, but all the same it feels awkward in third person. Then again, my goal was to challenge myself. Please leave a review, I need to know if this is absolute garbage or not. Thank you for reading!**

* * *

That night was uneventful for Sage. He found a spot on the floor easily, laid some of his clothes out on the floor to act as a cushion, then changed into a gray shirt bearing the elephant emblem he had chosen for himself as part of hunter tradition and some shorts. All hunters choose a symbol, usually related to his or her semblance. Sage looked around, trying to occupy his time by people watching. First, he looked at the guys around him. There wasn't much interesting besides the patterns on the males' pants and the gun show, though the blonde haired kid from earlier was now walking around in a set of baby blue footie pajamas. _Well, at least I'm not that guy. He didn't even last a day without looking stupid._

The girls, on the other hand, were more interesting to watch. A few of them chatted idly while they let their hair down and relaxed. Two or three wrote in diaries or journals whereas others restlessly laid in their sleeping bag to get some shuteye, to no avail. The room wasn't too loud, but tomorrow's events seemed to be on everyone's minds. Sage flopped unceremoniously onto his pile of clothes. _Why didn't I bring a sleeping bag? It was on the list. I mean, even if I didn't have one at home, I should've cobbled something together. it's kind of cold in here. Maybe I could take someone else's?_

_Maybe I shouldn't burn bridges before they're even built. The airship was different though, they all knew me already. What if they end up in my team? Having Maud as a leader was a nightmare and I really don't want to have a repeat of Lighthouse. Hell, even without Maud all those years would've been horrible. Why people even tried to make a town around that school I'll never know. On land, there's a few nevermore nests to the north, beowolf packs have overrun the forest to the east and south, and then there's the sea-grimm to worry about. _A few girls were shouting at each other a distance away, but Sage just rolled over; he was stuck inside his own head. The lights went out; within fifteen minutes soft snoring filled the room. Sage wasn't the only one kept awake as he noticed a few people were shifting positions every so often. He groaned and sat up while rubbing his eyes. _I'm not going to sleep right now, am I? Not with the snoring, and not with all of that on my mind. _Three others were doing the same. All four of the students were looking around at each other, all four wondering what was keeping the others awake.

* * *

Waking up the next morning was both incredibly boring and extremely exciting simultaneously. Everyone was rushing to get themselves ready for the initiation. Breakfast was quiet, with most people eating alone or in pairs. Sage ate by himself in a far corner, content in his seclusion. Then to the locker to grab his weapon. _Exsul. Glad to see nobody stole you in the night._ The teen grabbed the emerald green carbine out of the locker. It was a simple thing, colored in line with Sage's color scheme. With a skeleton stock and a rather large bayonet, it didn't seem like much._ Though, I'm not sure why they would. Everyone has their own weapon._ A projectile whistling past his head drew his attention. The blond guy from earlier was now stuck to a column by a scarlet and gold spear. _Already getting bullied? Can't say I'm surprised… _His train of thought was derailed by the one who threw the spear.

"Is that… the girl on the cereal box?"Sage rubbed his eyes, if only to make sure that he wasn't crazy. _I didn't even think she existed._

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." Goodwitch said over the PA system. The red haired girl took her spear and left with a girl in a white dress. _It's probably more like a combat skirt, though that wouldn't give her any protection like mine. _Sage thought as he patted the studded leather strips making up his own combat skirt._The cliff is huge, how am I- right, follow the masses._

Ozpin and Goodwitch were there waiting for them.

"As you are arriving, please make your way to one of the metal platforms. Do not leave the platform. We will brief you when everyone has arrived." said Goodwitch. She didn't look up from her scroll at the students, unlike Professor Ozpin who calmly watched them take their places. Sage found himself at the furthest platform from the two adults. Despite this, he could still hear them clearly when they began their briefing.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began, taking a sip from his coffee mug after finishing. _Everyone from Lighthouse was trained to defend the town. Not to be a warrior. _Goodwitch picked up where he left off.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams". Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... **today**."

"What?!" Sage whispered harshly to no one in particular. The boy next to him, who just so happened to be the black and white card themed Ace from yesterday, echoed him.

"I know ri-" he began, only to be hushed by the next person down.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." _I don't work well with anyone. _Sage's confidence began to drop a little bit._ I'm not changing for the sake of this school, but I don't want to get someone else killed. _

"...with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." _After landing? How are partners being picked?_

"What'd he say?" Sage turned to Ace, but Ace was now intently focused on Ozpin.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you **will** die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Sage straightened his back from his coiled up position to wave at Ozpin."Ah, yes actually!"

"Now, take your positions."

"Wait, I've got-" He was cut off by the catapulting of his body into the air.

"YOU MESSED UP MY GODDAMN LEGS, YOU ASSHOLE!" The launcher had indeed 'messed up his goddamn legs', due to his position before launch. He drew out a long "Holy shit!" before cursing the headmaster of Beacon again. "OZPIN YOU ARE AN INDUSTRIAL SIZED BAG OF DICKS!" he yelled as he flew through the sky. Talking (more like screaming) to himself, Sage tried to orient himself to figure out a 'landing strategy.' "Okay! Ground is that way! Plenty of time til I hit the ground! Actually, still going up!" He pulled on the sling that attached the rifle to himself.

"Okay, okay! I can do this! Just gotta figure out how the hell to stop myself with a freaking rifle! What am I even gonna do with this piece of shit!" His mouth became dry from all the yelling and the wind, and he began to cough. "Damn it!" On his way down now, Sage tried to guess where he'd land, and it wasn't looking too good for him. The platform he had malfunctioned. Instead of shooting him due north, it sent him far to the northwest. More accurately, it put him on a trajectory that would place him in the middle of a grassy clearing. "Oh come ON!" he managed to get out before making his crash landing.

Bouncing a few times prior to slamming into a large dead tree, Sage was in a bad way. The tree creaked and groaned due to the sudden impact but remained standing.

"Okay, I'm alive." he moaned. "That's a start. Alright. Reactors… well, I'm alive. Online then. Sensors..?" he began to get up but stopped at the sudden pain in his ankles. "Extremely painful. Weapons systems..?" he picked up Exsul, his rifle, in his right hand. "Well… it works. Or it did. Shouldn't test it, don't want an ursa breathing down my neck. Either way," he paused to grunt in pain as he tried to move his left arm, "could always stab. With one arm, apparently, unless I'm going to…" Sage checked out his arm for breaks. "... relocate it by myself." He laughed quietly. "I'm in a bad way. And I'm talking more to myself than I have in a long time. Am I in shock? Is this shock?" Sage's laughter became more and more desperate.

"I'm… uh… hah, hahaha… totally fucked. So much for the plan."

* * *

Sage woke up surprised for two reasons: he was alive and he didn't remember falling asleep or passing out. Attempting and failing once more to rise to his feet, he tried again; this time he used Exsul as a crutch. _Kind of ironic, a weapon made to kill instead used to save a life. Assuming I find someone. _The sun had long since reached its peak in the sky, now on its way down. The day was beginning to cool down, though Sage estimated that he still had about two to three hours left of sunlight. _I can't have been out for too long. We launched in the morning, at… nine… _

"No one else is going to be out here. Just gotta go north. I'll hit the temple. I have to." _Or you achieve what you're here for. Why haven't you just done it yourself yet? _A small, oft pushed away voice spoke in the back of his head. _You're not saving anyone in this condition, you're going to die. _

"I can do this. Just keep walking. I'll be okay. I'll be okay." Sage repeated the mantra over and over out loud. "I can do this just keep wal- SHIT." Stumbling over a root, he found himself on the ground again. "Getting tired of your shit, legs. Okay, mumbling is not helping."

Limping onward, he managed to appreciate his surroundings. Grimm infested forest or not, it was a lovely one. The lack of undergrowth allowed for him to move easily through the woods, and the canopy wasn't so thick so as to make it dark. Sun trickled in through the leaves. Up ahead, he noticed a clearing.

"Finally. Maybe I'm there…" He rushed forward as fast as his battered legs could take him, only to find it was a badly burned area of cinders, charcoal matchstick-like trees, and ash. The fire cut a flaming swath through the forest like a hot knife through butter. Luckily, the wind was at Sage's back, meaning the wildfire had raged its way north and created an (rather heated and smouldering) area that would both scare away the local grimm populace and give him increased visibility for the temple. "Though, if I fall here…" He shook off the thought and pushed forward.

* * *

"Did you realize that we didn't have video feed on Sejanus Aquila up until a few minutes ago? We'd completely lost track of him." Goodwitch intoned sharply to Ozpin, who had long since moved from the cliffs to his office. The gears in the ceiling clicked softly like the silent gears in Ozpin's head as he recalled.

"Yes. You said the last pair had been formed, but you'd only shown me Winchester and Thrush, Bronzewing and Lark, Arc and Nikos, Xiao Long and Belladonna, and Rose and Schnee up until you said Ms. Valkyrie and Mr. Ren had found each other. In fact, you didn't even mention anyone but those twelve."

"You didn't think it important to tell me, sir?"

"You seemed engrossed in their activities. I didn't want to interrupt."

"With all due respect, you can pretend to be apathetic about the students all you want but something like not telling me when we have students missing is reckless and pointless."

"Yes, but he's clearly alive on the scroll. He's from Lighthouse."

"I know, and his individual scores were excellent, but-"

"Have some faith in the child, Glynda. Battered as he may be, Lighthouse builds them to last."

* * *

"Oh shit!" said Sage, upon reaching a hilltop. Not too far to the north were the remnants of a battle. Chunks of white ice contrasted sharply with the foliage of the trees and the grass of the clearing. Nevermore feathers stuck out of the ground. As he followed the feathers left with his eyes, he saw "The TEMPLE! There IS a god!" _Is the Nevermore still around? _Sage thought, suddenly feeling very exposed on the hillside. _It might be… Nope, it's flying… and… fighting by the cliffs? _"One step at a time. Get the relic, then worry about massive Nevermore that happens to be circling the cliffs that I have to climb up somehow." Through the forest he hobbled to reach the objective. As soon as he broke out of the forest, he began to limp as fast as he could towards the temple.

"Lots of pedestals. Okay?" he muttered as he glanced around the ruin. "There's gotta be SOMETHING left." He shifted around in his hunchbacked position. "Would've helped if I had known what to look for." An agonized expression came over his face as he began to walk again. "Ugh… I have to get off my feet." _Don't do that, Sage. If you sit down you're not getting back up. _"Is there some kind of switch? Maybe this is just the entrance..?" To find something, anything that would help him, he searched every nook and cranny of the moss covered stone to no avail. "Hey God, if you're up there, I take back every negative thing I ever said about you and all the people that follow you if you'll help me this one time."

Nothing.

"It was worth a shot, I guess. So this whole trip was…" Something glinted in the grass as a cloud uncovered the sun. "... NOT pointless." Sage snatched the piece up from the ground, but became irate as he noticed what it was. "It's a CHESS PIECE! Ozpin, you sent us into a grimm infested forest to cleanup your GOD DAMN GAME? Does this look like a game to you? I swear when I get up that cliff I'm going to… oh."

The yelling had attracted a roving pack of beowolves. The pack had attempted to sneak up on Sage while he was distracted and alone. Sage moved his hand at a snails pace to stow away the white bishop piece. After pocketing the relic, he went to reposition Exsul so he could make to shoot the alpha.

Beowolves' pack mentality is similar to more 'normal' wolves' pack mentality in that there's the alpha male and female, beta, and omega. However, if the alpha male dies, the beowolves are more likely to fight within themselves to be the next beta or even try to take the alpha position from the beta. It was with these facts in mind that Sage moved, using his good arm to pull the rifle up onto one of the stone pillars and to take aim at the largest of the small pack.

_I hope I'm not mixing up the pack mentalities. _

He took a deep breath and let a little bit out, then slowly squeezed the trigger.


End file.
